INSIDE VFB President reads to BES students > page 3
Volume 57, Number 12 • March 24, 2011
Paws Inn action dropped by county Ken Odor jodor@goochlandgazette.com
Debbie Gibson can continue operating her kennel at Paws Inn, after Circuit Judge Timothy K. Sanner granted Goochland County’s motion for a non-suit Tuesday, March 15. That was the original trial date for an injunction requested by the county to force Gibson to stop operating her business until she obtained a conditional use permit, said Goochland County Attorney Norman Sales last week. “It’s a zoning enforcement case,” said Sales. “All we wanted to do was to get her to apply for a conditional use permit.” Sales said the county filed its non-suit motion, in essence withdrawing its request for an injunction, because “We came upon some evidentiary problems that caught us by surprise.” Those problems may have been that Deputy Zoning Administrator Anita Barnes gave a deposition in February, according to the case file, in which she said she believed the defendant was lawfully operating kennel. This testimony was at odds with the county’s complaint. Gibson has operated Paws Inn at the same location on
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Calendar Classifieds Letters LEW
Gibson
Plaza Drive in Manakin-Sabot since 1996. She said she was steered to the location by former Goochland Planning Director Robert Hammond. Hammond said in a 2009 interview that he recommended the location with the understanding that Gibson would be operating a kennel, not an animal boarding place, which is what Judge Sanner ruled her business was in January 2009. In 2007, the county’s zoning ordinance was changed and kennels were no longer allowed in B-1, unless a conditional use permit is granted. The county maintains that Gibson must have a conditional use permit to operate.
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see Paws Inn > Page 5
Opinion 6 Sheriff Reports 7 Sports 8 TV Listings 9-11
Photo by Jim Ridolphi
Bellview Gardens residents and other interested parties fill the administration buidling meeting room last week for the Planning Commssion meeting. The commission declined to recommend rezoning a parcel on Mills Road for a Goodwill store after hearing citiizens’ comments.
No go for Goodwill retail center Jim Ridolphi news@goochlandgazette.com
A rezoning request that would have allowed Goodwill Stores to build a retail outlet near Centerville appears dead in the water after a unanimous decision to deny recommendation by the Goochland Planning Commission. The application proceeds to the Board of Supervisors for final consid-
SPORTS Brookman chases off Collegiate > page 8
eration, but if this week’s meeting is an indicator, it’s an uphill battle for approval. Goodwill sought the rezoning in order to build a 17,000 square foot facility at the Mills Road and Broad Street intersection. Mills Road also serves as the one and only entrance to the Bellview Gardens subdivision, a recently expanded neighborhood that features about 38 homes.
INCIDENT REPORTS from the Sheriff’s office > page 7
Neighbors were united in their efforts to stop the project, citing numerous concerns including safety, traffic and the incompatibility of the project for the neighborhood. Bellview Gardens is zoned R-1, and neighbors said they never imagined a commercial site at the entrance would even be considered. see Goodwill > Page 4